The Philippines and the European Union (EU) are set to begin the second round of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) on Feb. 10, 2025, EU Ambassador to the Philippines Massimo Santoro said during the 9th Joint Economic Briefing by the European Chambers of Commerce in the Philippines.
Santoro said the FTA has the potential to boost trade and economic ties between the Philippines and the EU.
“While the EU remains the fourth largest trading partner of the Philippines with a share of 11 percent of Philippine exports and 6 percent of imports, the Philippines is only the sixth economic partner of the EU amongst the ASEAN countries. We can do more, considering the potential and the size of the Philippine market and the resources of the country,” he said
Santoro said the objective of the FTA is to bring bilateral economic ties to a new level, facilitate not only merchandise trade but also trade in services and create more incentives for investments.
“The combination of the FTA, the Philippines’ robust economic growth, controlled inflation and the positive regional environment in ASEAN will significantly boost trade and investment. Thanks to the possibility to bring to zero tariffs on a wider range of goods and services, this will be a further boost to the relaunching of our trade, economic and bilateral ties,” he said.
The first round of negotiations was held in October 2024 in Brussels, and continuous work at the technical level has been ongoing since then.
The second round, to be held in Manila from Feb. 10 to 14, 2024, will involve further discussions on existing chapters and the introduction of new ones.
Santoro listed the positive economic indicators in the Philippines including its strong GDP growth and controlled inflation as contributing factors to the promising future of EU-Philippines trade relations.
He said the Philippines already benefits from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP+), which provides zero-tariff access for a significant number of goods.
